A Gift Given In Spite
by Jaded Ninja
Summary: Bardock, moments before Vegeta's destruction, resolves to instead travel to Earth and raise his son for the sole purpose of avenging their race. However, his gift of foresight draws the attention of Kami, will this interfere with Bardock's plans?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Bardock or any other characters in this story unless you've never heard of them, and even then, they probably existed just didn't have a huge role. Almost all characters are the intellectual property of Akira Toriyama (God bless him) and to a lesser extent Toei and Funimation (if dub names are used).

Betrayal

"Then that means no one's safe from Freeze, not even you!" Bardock was shocked at what Dodoria had told him. Freeza planned to eliminate the Saiyan race because he deemed their growing power a threat. Dodoria and his elites had been sent to take care of Bardock's crew personally. Well if those are elites I can see what Freeza might be afraid of, Bardock thought. All four of them were dead, and Bardock had barely broken a sweat.

"Bah, what do you know monkey!" Dodoria roared clearly disturbed by Bardock's words. "Lord Freeza's very grateful for your service but now its time to LET YOU GO!!!" Dodoria released a giant wave of ki from his mouth leaving a giant trench in the ground. At the end of that trench, in a pile of half disintegrated bodies, the blast had deposited Bardock.

"What a weakling I don't know what Lord Freeza was afraid of" Dodoria was so confident in his ability he didn't even bother checking Bardock for vital signs. He headed back to his ship and muttered, "Pity though, now I have to find a whole new team"

"Those visions I had, they're coming true! What was it that Kanassan had said, so that I could see the horror of my own end?" Bardock had barely survived Dodoria's blast, and was racing back home to Vegeta, but not for healing. "Then that means Freeza's next move is to destroy Vegeta, I can't let him do that!" Bardock resolved to try and assemble a resistance when he arrived. "It's not much, but at least I know his plans ahead of time, maybe we can ambush him."

When he landed the elf-like Planthorr greeted Bardock, as he had been so many times before. Planthorr was never pleased with the banged up condition Bardock returned in and made a point to scold him for his carelessness after every mission. "Bardock, why is it every time you come back you manage to surprise me with new and amazing injuries I never thought possible? What in HFIL's name did you do to yourself this time? Why…"

"In all your years as a doctor you've never seen someone with such a lack of regard for his own well being, I know" Bardock finished for him. "I don't have time for that now I want to know, where is my son?"

"Oh, Kakorot? He just got sent off moments before you landed, had we known you would be back so soon we would have delayed the launch"

So he's safe then, Bardock thought relieved. Bardock's visions all seemed to involve his son, despite his pitiful power level. He must have some part to play in this, maybe not now, but in the future. He thought of his other son Raditz, who would be about three now and almost certainly beginning to carry out his mission to destroy some planet.

My sons, I may not survive, but I have to insure that you grow up in a world without Freeza. Bardock ran out of the spaceport/hospital and into the city.

"What are you doing you fool! Without immediate attention you're going to die!" Planthorr called after him.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Bardock or any other characters in this story unless you've never heard of them, and even then, they probably existed just didn't have a huge role. Almost all characters are the intellectual property of Akira Toriyama (God bless him) and to a lesser extent Toei and Funimation (if dub names are used).

Epiphany

Bardock ran through the city in the hazy light of dusk. He made his way to the lower class Saiyan warrior district and headed into the popular between mission watering hole, The Monkey's Tail.

_If there's anywhere I can find someone to help me it'd be here. Those elites would never listen to me; I just hope they will here._

"Everyone" he said to the crowd of Saiyans gathered in the dark bar. "You have to listen to me, Freeza's coming to destroy the planet, he's coming to destroy Vegeta, you have to help me fight him!"

One Saiyan started to walk towards Bardock, _well it's a start,_ Bardock thought until he realized whom it was.

"Oh I get it, the Almighty Bardock got messed up and suddenly it's the end of the world, well don't worry my friend, we all get beat up sometimes, don't we guys?" Zukki sneered. Zukki was another low-level Saiyan, who had had a long-standing rivalry with Bardock from their first mission together as children. Though he had always been one step behind Bardock and dreamed of one day beating him, seeing his rival reduced to a bleeding mess was good enough for now. "I think we can forget all about this incident though, as long as you bow whenever you're within a hundred feet of another Saiyan!"

The bar erupted in laughter at Zukki's comments. Bardock realized he would never get anywhere with them. _So I have to do this alone then. Fine. Toma, Panbukin, Celipa, Topato, I will avenge you, nothing will stop me. This is… just a minor setback that's all._ Bardock launched a parting blow to his rival, "You fool, you're dead," he said before turning around to go.

Bardock's words hit a nerve in Zukki, and he wasn't going to let it slide "What did you say? Let's see if you're still so high and mighty when you're burning in Hell Bardock!" Zukki charged over to his weakened rival and threw a blow with such force that it would surely send Bardock to the next dimension. However, Bardock still managed to dodge the attack and incapacitate Zukki with a kick to the face, even with his wounds. "I don't have time for this nonsense, I need to save my ki for Freeza. Now if you excuse me Zukki, I've got a future to save"

Bardock left the bar and made his way to the Tuffle Tower. The tower was one of the few buildings not decimated when the Saiyans had finally been able to defeat their enemies. The tower had been built as a secret weapon against to use against the Saiyans. At the top was a holographic projector that was capable of creating artificial cloud cover to block out the moon. The Tuffles had made one fatal error however, they had miscalculated the time it would take to complete and it was not functional in time to save them from the Saiyan's Oozaru forms. It was operational now, and had protected the Saiyan race from destroying itself in the once a decade full moon several times.

Bardock cared not for its history though as he climbed the structure. All that mattered to him was that it was the tallest building in the royal city, and thus the wisest place to fly into space from. Nor did he care for the irony that the building once used in an attempt to destroy the Saiyans would be used in an attempt to save them. He was focused on his task alone.

I have to beat Freeza, he'll be getting close now, I don't have much time left. I… 

Bardock's wounds were beginning to become too much for him to bear. _Damn Planthorr, you were right. I don't know much longer I can last like this. It doesn't matter now just a little farther._

Bardock however was unable to retain consciousness and slipped into a dream. He awoke on another planet. The only word he could think of to describe it was _green. Everything is green the ground, the sky, the sea._ He stood under the intense light of its three suns that ensured it was never night. It was nothing like Vegeta. As dead and arid as Vegeta's landscape appeared, that was how vibrant and full of life this planet was. Bardock, however, sensed another presence. Before him stood a man in an orange gi with a symbol on the back that was entirely foreign to him. However, his haircut was suspiciously familiar. There was only one other person he knew of with that hair.

"Kakorot…" Bardock stammered

"There's still time father," His son began

"Kakorot, you're all grown up"

"Time to be different from him"

Bardock's son faded from view, "No Kakorot!" Bardock bellowed.

Bardock was treated to scenes of his son fighting various battles throughout his life. First he saw Kakorot, once more a child, fighting a green man. Kakorot fired a beam that was unknown to Bardock or any Saiyan into the ground and bisected the man.

Then he witnessed a battle against what appeared to be a younger version of the previous foe, but Kakorot was clearly an adult. _How confusing? He fights the younger version when he is older?_ The battle appeared to happen on a stage of some sort, but it was destroyed by the green man in the course of the fight.

Next, he saw Kakorot battling what appeared to be the Prince of Saiyans, Vegeta, who had also grown up. _He will be able to take Prince Vegeta? But he has the power level of an elite adult already and he's only seven._

Finally a smooth, purple and white being battled his son on the green planet. Though Bardock knew not his form, the menace in his eyes betrayed his identity.

_Freeza._

What Bardock saw then was the scene that always ended his visions. Freeza powering up a ball of energy to near meteor size and firing it at planet Vegeta. This time however, Bardock was in the foreground, the first to be hit by the attack. Bardock watched as he was vaporized by the attack and heard the haunting voice of the Kanassan deliver his final words once more "We gave you this gift, Bardock, so that you could see the horror of your own end, just as we had to."

Bardock awoke on the floor of the tower. "I see now Kakorot, if I try to fight Freeza, I will be killed and nothing will change. No, it is you my son, you will be the one to defeat him. If fate allows, I want to be there when it happens. I can't die here, not now. Kakorot, I'm coming to see you. I'll teach you everything I know, who knows maybe some of it will help. I know it's not fair to ask this of you, but Kakorot you are the hope of the Saiyan race."

End of Chapter 2

To my Readers:

Vegito and Writer Person, thank you first off for being my only reviewers so far and also for your reviews. Italics were a better idea for thoughts and the length of my previous chapter was only short because it was the introduction. This is more likely to be the average length of my chapters.

A brief preview: In Vegeta's final moments, the fates of many are determined. Freeza's spaceship is under attack, an botched assassination attempt leads to the creation of a monster, Cooler must make a decision, sit and watch or aid his brother, and the Kanassans aren't happy with Bardock cheating his destiny, what will this mean for him as he spends a long sleep in cold suspension during his journey to Earth?


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Bardock or any other characters in this story unless you've never heard of them, and even then, they probably existed just didn't have a huge role. Almost all characters are the intellectual property of Akira Toriyama (God bless him) and to a lesser extent Toei and Funimation (if dub names are used).

Chapter 3:

When Bardock arrived back the spaceport, he was greeted by the sounds of a struggle. Moving as fast as his wounded body would carry him he rushed to source of the noise. He found himself outside of the nursery and he could here angry voices within

"Quit resisting, these are the king's orders."

"He's no king he's a butcher if he's asked for the murder of a child"

"Shut up pointy ears"

Bardock recognized the voice of the second man as that of Planthorr. A flash of light from within the room told him the altercation had taken a violent turn. Bursting through the doors he was greeted with a gruesome sight. One Saiyan stood over the crippled form of Planthorr, palm extended as though he were about to power up another blast. Another stood with a knife covered in the blood of an infant who lied expiring in his crib. Two more held a weeping man with an energy wound through the chest. Though seriously wounded, the burn mark on the final mans chest had partially healed and it was clear he had had the wound for a few hours now.

_That must be the boy's father. They took extra care to make sure they didn't kill him but left him too weak to prevent them from killing his son while he had to watch._

Bardock's entrance had drawn the attention of the murderers. These were no low class bar rubble like Zukki, though. These were super-elites, personal agents of King Vegeta. Bardock would have trouble with them even at 100, weakened and bleeding he stood no chance. The Elites knew this and their leader turned his attention from Planthorr and slowly approached him. "My, my thought you'd be a hero did you? Well guess again, low class trash, you might be pretty tough in whatever scum pit you climbed out of, but we're in a completely different league. Not a single one of us has a power-level under eleven thousand."

The one with the knife offered, "Want me to kill him too boss?"

"No I don't think that will be necessary, looks like someone already messed him up enough. He can't do anything." He pushed Bardock into the wall causing him to fall over. "Come on lets clean up and leave"

As they turned to go Bardock stood back up. "Hey I'm not through with you yet. Planthorr may be an irritating ass sometimes, but he's still my friend, and if you hurt him you have me to deal with. Eleven thousand, eh? You must be related to the king if you boast power-levels that high, but I ain't impressed. You know where I got these wounds? It's a name that even you should fear, Dodoria"

"Impossible he took on Dodoria and lived? He has to be bluffing"

"For a tiny insect you tell some big lies, and you're arrogance is pissing me off!" The Elites leader powered up and prepared to fight Bardock.

_Damn, I may have bit off a bit more than I can chew, well there's no turning back now._

_Delays, Delays, Delays._ Freeza wasn't known for being a patient ruler and the constant delays on his trip to Planet Vegeta were beginning to get on his nerves.

"Lord Freeza we have discovered the nature of our problem" an unimportant grunt had been dispatched to relay the message, in case the answer upset the Emperor, Freeza's commanders rarely dealt with him face to face unless they had to.

"Well out with it"

"It…it seems that we have a few stowaways"

"Don't beat around the bush tell me you clod, who snuck on board?"

"It…it was…Ki..Ki…"

"If you don't tell me this instant, your next breath will suck in nothing but the cold vacuum of space"

"King Vegeta sir."

"WHAT!!!" the tiny Emperor bellowed

"He…he and a group of Saiyans snuck on board and are killing their way to your chamber."

"Those traitorous monkeys, I guess I was right in my suspicions. I'm feeling charitable so I'm going to give you ten seconds to get out of this room and warn everyone that the next head that comes into this room will be blown off, whether it belongs to King Vegeta or not."

"You…you intend to fight him sir?"

"Time is ticking"

"Err, yes sir!" The soldier ran out of the room, grateful he had survived an encounter with Freeza, but scared senseless nonetheless.

Bardock was sent flying through a wall by the Elite. It would be a one on one match, the other three had been sent back to their posts, awaiting their king's return.

_Aren't I the lucky one? I get a match against Dodoria and King Vegeta's cousin all in one day. If I survive this one that's gotta be one hell of zenkai. No, no if, when. I can't die here, I've got to make it to my son._

Getting up, Bardock looked down the hallway. The Elite walked slowly towards him, electricity crackling in the air between them.

"Eat this!" Bardock fired his trademark shoulder level energy wave at the Elite. It would later be known as the Riot Javelin, and it had never failed him in the past. The elite took the blast square in the chest and laughed, "That was pretty good, you clocked eight thousand with that one." He tapped his scouter, "that means if you were at full strength that blast might have had a chance to hurt me. I'd put your normal power around ten. Quite impressive for a low level, even for an elite, but my power level is thirteen thousand, and with your injuries you have no hope."

Once more Bardock was sent flying backwards. Landing in heap of wall fragments, he tried to think of a strategy.

_This hallway is two narrow to avoid anything he throws at me, but there's no way out either, he'd fry me if I tried to leave. But that means the same goes for him. He can't lower his guard to try and get to a more open area. No, he can't especially not if I really hit 8000 with that attack. The only reason he could take it and laugh is because he was prepared for it. I'm gonna hafta fake him out then. He thinks he too strong for me, maybe if I charge straight for him he'll let me get close so that he can finish me off. Then I'll pull off an attack that he won't be able to block… No he'd see through that, the only way is if I hold back just enough that I can get a second attack in when he lowers his guard to attack me. It'll require I use all of my energy though._

Bardock stood up and began powering up. "You're good if you can take my Riot Javelin and stand unharmed, but this next moves far more powerful than that one." He was bluffing, had anyone who knew him seen the flame like aura forming around his fist they would have known he was using his secondary move. Bardock charged across the hallway, using his free hand to clutch the other, now enveloped with its fiery payload. "HEAT PHALANX!" Bardock connected with an uppercut that would leave him wide open for retaliation.

"You fool, that was pitiful, and you've left me such an open target, you fought with pride and spirit, like a true Saiyan, I'll give you that, but you were just outclassed, say hello to the rest of the trash in Hell for me."

The Elite moved his hand to fire a deathblow at point blank range, but Bardock beat him to it. Landing another punch in the center of the Elite's armor he fired all the energy he had left through him, leaving a gaping hole where his stomach should be.

Both fighters fell over, and the Elite gasped "How, trashed by that low level, you were wide open, there's no way you could have gotten another move in that fast."

"I pulled my punch," Bardock replied staggering back to his feet. "I planned all along to use my body as bait while switching the energy to my opposite hand seconds before I hit you. Looks like you can go say hello to the trash in Hell yourself." Bardock began to slump back down the hallway to see if Planthorr was still alive._ He has to be, he's the only one who can help me find where Kakorot is._

"I've been waiting for you, Your Majesty." Freeza slowly turned his chair around to face his challenger.

"Freeza, nothing personal, but the Saiyan race resigns from your service and we'll be taking the Prince back now," King Vegeta stood before the diminutive emperor, his scouter turned off. He had gazed once at Freeza's power level when he first agreed to provide Saiyan mercenaries for Freeza's army, and it had been frighteningly high. He didn't need to know how much his power had grown in the years since the contract had been drawn. King Vegeta was only about as strong as Zarbon or Dodoria, boasting a power level of sixteen thousand, but Freeza was more than ten times that strong. Vegeta hoped that with his strongest relatives and commanders he could overpower Freeza through strength of arms. Banishing all thoughts of failure from his mind, Vegeta continued, "Hand my son over now and you can go in peace, resist and you will be destroyed."

"My, my, we'd best do what he says, I would so dislike being dismembered by an ugly monkey," Freeza mocked his former subordinate, "Zarbon, where is the young Prince?"

"He's currently on a mission with the general Nappa," the green skinned pretty boy replied to a question Freeza already knew the answer to.

"Well then I guess I'll have to resist, if that's alright with you my liege" Freeza stood up and took a bow, "Zarbon, Dodoria, take care of the rest of the monkeys outside, I don't want you to have to see me beaten to a pulp by this fine warrior"

"THAT'S ENOUGH OF YOUR MOUTH FREEEEEEEEZA!" King Vegeta ran across the room, only to be greeted by a jaw shattering smack from Freeza's tail. As Dodoria and Zarbon left the room, Freeza extended his hand to King Vegeta, "Oh my I didn't hurt you did I? I must not know my own strength"

Vegeta batted the hand away and wiped the blood from his beard, getting to his feet. "You caught me off guard that time, but you made a fatal mistake, you underestimated me!"

The King fired two blasts of ki at Freeza who merely held up one finger and pointed it towards Vegeta. Like a gunshot, a thin stream of ki fired from his finger and shattered both of Vegeta's blasts, and continuing on through his armor, chest, and back out the other side. Confronted with the hopelessness of the situation, and his own inability to prevent his beloved son from being just another tool for Freeza to use, Vegeta began to burst into tears.

"Look at the once proud ruler, reduced to tears. You were the best the Saiyan race had to offer, the great conqueror of the Tuffles, my how far you have fallen...are you speechless, have you nothing to say? None of that monkey wit, hmm?"

"I've failed, but there's no reason that Saiyan race should suffer for my actions. Kill me if you must, but leave the Saiyans and my son be."

"What happened to your Saiyan pride?"

"What right do I have to pride if I can't protect my people."

"I'll let you in a secret, because I admire your courage, I really do," Freeza began a slow chuckle as he revealed the truth to King Vegeta, "I was going to destroy your planet before you ever set foot on board this ship today, but you've made it so much more interesting by allowing me to kill you personally. But I'm not a complete sadist. I'll spare you the pain of watching me blow up your pathetic planet."

"You monster, mark my words, the Saiyan blood you spill will be repaid, someday, somehow Freeza, you will pay."

"Let's just hope whoever fate sends is more entertaining than you." Freeza fired a second Death Beam, and opened the hatch to the outside to begin powering up Planet Vegeta's end.

"Yes, I'm still alive you went off and did something stupid again didn't you?" Bardock was relieved to see Planthorr, but could tell that he was far worse than he would admit.

"I need your help, you're the only one here who can access the mission database."

"Fool, you're in no condition to be going on a mission"

"Its not for me, I need to know where Kakorot, my son, is. I have to get to him."

"That's even more foolish than I thought, what you need now Bardock is healing"

"You're one to talk, believe me if I thought I had time I would heal, but Freeza's coming to destroy the planet, and I've wasted enough time as it is."

"Had I not been just assaulted by King Vegeta's servants, I would never have thought it was just another one of your crazy ramblings, but it seems the rest of the world has gone just crazy enough that that seems plausible, very well I'll help you."

The two bloody men, half walked, half carried each other through the hallway to the computer database. _What a sorry sight we make_

"Here the planet is Earth, all you need now is to plug these into your ships computer. Come, we'd best get you off if you're absolutely ser-" Planthorr began hacking up a bloody cough as he struggled to finish. "Ack, come on, we have to hurry, I won't last much longer and you don't know how to set a course."

Before long the expiring pair were in the starport, Bardock seated in his spacepod, helping Planthorr set the final controls for take off.

"That should do it Bardock, I've set the ships computer for deep freeze. It won't heal your injuries much, but it will preserve you long enough to make the journey. I strongly recommend you find a hospital as soon as you land, it wouldn't be much of a mission if you died as soon as you landed on some alien world."

"Thank you Planthorr, but you don't deserve to die here after all this either. There must be another spacepod somewhere."

"Foolish to the end, Bardock. Every second we delay is another chance you won't survive, no I'll face my fate here. By all accounts I should have died along with that man and his child. I'm just thankful I lived long enough to assure someone will avenge this planet, all of Vegeta's hope lies with you and your boy Bardock."

"I know, goodbye and thank you Planthorr I'll make sure you're avenged."

The door closed and Bardock began to feel the cold effects to the deep freeze. As he rose into the air and was fired off to a strange new place, he took one last look at his home planet a jewel shimmering alone in space. He would always be thankful that that was the last image he saw of it. Moments after he lost consciousness, the planet was destroyed by Freeza's meteor sized Death Ball technique.

_What do you think you're doing Bardock?_

Who the Hell are you? Wait you're that Kanassan.

_You were not supposed to survive Bardock. The gift was given so that you would have to witness you're death before it happened just like we did. Not cheat your destiny._

"Well I'm sorry, but I've got something more important to do than die."

_Don't be so confident Bardock, you've still got to survive these injuries. And you have no way of knowing who will come after you. Don't think that one surviving Saiyan will go unnoticed._

"So then these visions will stop then? After all I cheated my destiny or whatever"

_Oh no Bardock, You've got a long sleep ahead of you before you make it to Earth. You'll be having plenty of visions, but you'll have no way of knowing which will be true now that you've decided to play God and changed the future_

To the readers: I'm almost caught up with my notebooks now, so the next update might take a little longer as I have to write new material, plus I've got an English paper to edit and redo when my teacher gives it back, and a dance to help out at for my school on Friday. I hate dressing up, but the club I'm part of planned it and they'll kick me out if I don't go.

You've all been pretty positive so far, I'm still working to find a rhythm for my length, this one's the longest so far, length of future ones is still out there, but I'd imagine somewhere between this one and the previous one.

A brief preview (some points subject to change): As Bardock travels through space, the Kanassans have almost complete control over his mind. What will Bardock see, what will come true and what will not? And Bardock ends up in Heaven, in a manner of speaking.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Bardock or any other characters in this story unless you've never heard of them, and even then, they probably existed just didn't have a huge role. Almost all characters are the intellectual property of Akira Toriyama (God bless him) and to a lesser extent Toei and Funimation (if dub names are used).

An Audience With God

With a fiery impact the space pod exploded, dashed to pieces against an asteroid. Somehow Bardock was alive after the explosion, but it would have been far better had he burned up with his pod. Drifting alone through the cold unforgiving vacuum of space, he choked for air as the nothingness greedily drank all it could. The air in his lungs, his sweat, saliva, and the blood from his still fresh wounds all diffused into the black abyss before him. Just as he expired Bardock shouted, "For the thousandth time Kanassan, I will not die here, I have a mission to fulfill and no mind tricks of yours will deter me."

For the weeks he had traveled since his battle with the Saiyan Elite he had waged a whole new battle. He fought the Kanassan inside his head, his gift of foresight never more hateful than now. It predicted the tens of thousands of deaths he could meet on the journey over, the horror of never finding his son, and anything else that could be used to break his spirit.

He was in a different void now, one he had come to know as his mind, he stood unharmed before the amphibian like form of his tormentor.

"Are you done yet? I know this is all a dream, a nightmare, and I will wake up from it."

_Humph, you've lived despite my best efforts, but you've been weakened, I doubt you can even make it once you land._

"This mean your giving up?"

Don't pat yourself on the back just yet Bardock, you know when this ends your still dying from not one but two beatings.

"Hey I won that last one, and Dodoria will get…."

The last of his thought remained unfinished as the computer shut off the cold freeze and injected stimulants into Bardock's body to wake it back up to leave the pod.

-Landing Successful, Mission: Make Safe Landing Accomplished, Checking For Next Objective, No Objective Entered, Opening Door, Happy Hunting-

The computerized voice finished its protocol and Bardock grabbed his scouter, fixed his headband, and prepared to stretch his legs on this new planet. He managed four steps out of the space pod into the night and blacked out, his wounds becoming too much to even stand.

Bardock awoke in a white stone room, sunlight pouring in the open window. Gazing around he found himself in a bed, and when he pulled the bed sheet down to try to stand again, he was met with an amazing discovery.

"My wounds, they they're gone" He stared down at his completely healed arms, chest, and legs. He was shirtless, his armor sitting in a corner, one look at revealed it was beyond repair. Looking further he found a table next to his bed on which were displayed most of his salvageable belongings. His headband, scouter and one armband sat. Bardock affixed his headband, now permanently stained with blood, and toyed with the scouter in his hand as he walked over to the window. Staring out, he was once more amazed. Before him was sprawled a beautiful garden with perfect white marble walkways.

"I must have died, but this place is far too pretty to be Hell" Bardock said aloud, "Am I in Heaven?"

"In a manner of speaking yes, but not the one which you refer to" From behind him came a voice that sounded wizened and wearied from many long years of life, wheeling around Bardock turned to face its source. Before him stood a hunched over man of green complexion, not unlike the two Bardock had seen before in his vision.

"You!" Bardock said in shock

"Glad to see you've awoken and are better come with me there's much to discuss" the old man continued as if Bardock had never said a word before turning around and leaving the room. Bardock had never been so confused in his life. Did this guy not care that Bardock seemed to know whom he was when he was dead sure they had never met before.

"Well you can come with me and find out, or you can stand there for the rest of you life" The old man called back up to him. Left with little choice Bardock hurried down the stairs after him and prepared to ask him how he knew exactly what he was thinking, but before he could he heard, "There will be time for that later, but first you must thank the people responsible for saving your life"

Bardock was led into a large room with a table. Seated at the table were two creatures Bardock had never seen anything like before. On the left sat a being with a white furry coat, whiskers, and eyes that seemed perpetually closed. He had seen cats before, but never had he seen one sentient enough to be present at a conference he assumed held great importance. And on the right was a man with skin darker than midnight. He wore a turban, and was shirtless save for a red vest. The aged green man took a seat at the head of the table in what looked to be a large throne.

"Sit down," the man gently commanded, and pointed to the seat opposite his. "Now I am unaware who you are or where you came from, and I intend to eventually find out, but first I will introduce you to your hosts. This is Karin, one of the greatest marital arts masters on the planet," The man indicated the cat creature, "You owe him perhaps the greatest debt of all, for it was his Senzu beans that allow you to stand before us."

"Well, uh, thanks Karin, I guess I owe you one then." Saiyan pride was a tricky thing. At the one hand, Bardock was embarrassed to have required the help of anyone let alone a talking cat, but on the other his pride wouldn't let him just brush it off.

_Ahhhhh, dammit all, a life debt. Ya know I'm almost glad all the other Saiyans are dead; I'd never live this one down._

"I'll remember that," the cat said with a smile, and Bardock swore he saw the cat's eyes open just a little, like he already had something in mind.

"And this is my assistant, Mr. Popo. Everything you see before you, the architecture, gardens, the rooms, he takes care of it all."

"Well, uh, pleased to meet you too…lovely job you do here." Again Bardock was a little off balance. It was true he could see the place was pretty and all, but he was a warrior, just admiring something for the way it looks seemed a bit odd to him. And taking care of it was completely foreign to him. His quarters on Vegeta had been a sty. Mission records, the inevitable paperwork (though it was minimal, as the group leader he still had some), training equipment, all of it laid strewn across his room in a haphazard way. Half the time he didn't even remember to wash his battle gear, and would go out on new missions with the blood from the last one still stained to his armor.

I'm probably not gonna to see eye to eye with this Popo guy. At least the cat's got some fight in him, being a martial arts master and all. I mean, what he does is impressive I guess, but he's probably just some flower- loving pansy.

"And I," the old man continued, "I have long since forgotten my true name however you may refer to me as Kami"

"What? Forgot you name! What're you senile?" Saiyan manners were near nonexistent unless under life threatening situations, that even with their love of battle they know it would be foolish to try, and as you can imagine, those situations are far and few between. However, never having encountered a Saiyan before, Bardock's current company was shocked at this outburst. Mr. Popo was the first to break the awkward silence that followed.

"How dare you insult Kami, he is the wisest being on the planet and…"

"Mr. Popo, remain calm, it is obvious our guest has no clue what a Kami is. I am know to few even on this planet, however, a Kami, in essence is a mortal resident of the planet, who, having gained enough power and wisdom to do so, assumes the role of protector for his home planet. In layman's terms I am a god. I have held this job for several hundred years, and lived a full life before that. The story of my origin is long, and is not relevant to the situation at hand. At some point in the future I may tell you, but it is the story of you origin, and reasons for coming here that interest me."

"Ahh, I think I understand, I meant no disrespect, it just seemed curious." Impulsive though he was, Bardock was a thinking Saiyan. Usually his thoughts pertained to winning battles, and he saw this as merely another one.

Words ain't exactly my strong suit though. I don't exactly know if I can trust them, but they kept me alive, so maybe they wont object to me raising my son here.

"Well you see I'm a Saiyan. We are, or were I should say, a race of mercenary warriors. For the last 10 years or so, we were in the employ of a warlord named Freeza."

Kami interrupted, "You use the phrase were quite a bit, are we to assume that this Saiyan race is no more?"

"More or less yeah. About a month ago our planet was destroyed and I'd say most or nearly all of us were killed then."

Karin added, "So then you're a refugee?"

"That would be a pretty accurate statement," Bardock replied.

Continuing Karin asked, "So why this planet? Why did you pick earth?"

"Well, you're sorta getting ahead of me. You see what we do as mercenaries, is we go to planets, kill all the indigenous people, then sell it to whoever's interested. Now usually we give these jobs to our top warriors, however, some planets are deemed weak enough that we can send children to them to conquer as they grow up. Now, don't take too much offense at this, but…"

"Someone close to you, a child of a friend or relative was sent here to destroy us." Kami finished what Bardock knew was the key phrase in his story.

Damn, he's not even gonna let me finish now. Well what did I expect? Can't just waltz in and say, hey my kid was sent to kill you, mind if I raise him to be a warrior?

Bardock's Saiyan blood was itching for a fight right then and there, but Kami had more to say, "However, you, decided to come here and were willing to sacrifice that mission in order to have a safe haven while you hide from the people responsible for your planets destruction, in case they decide to round up the survivors."

"You're close, but I ain't hiding from no one," Bardock felt a bit insulted, "The kid you speak of is my son, and I didn't come here to use him as a bargaining chip for protecting me, I came here to train him to take revenge on the person responsible for my planets destruction."

"But he is a child, why not take the revenge yourself? Surely as his parent you are the stronger of the two, is your hatred so strong you are willing to wait years for his fighting potential to come out?" Kami had a vague idea of the answer, he was merely pressing the issue to try and get Bardock to reveal everything.

It's a bit manipulative and not exactly my style to question someone like this, but there's more he's not telling me. He has some secret, some intelligence of the future to want to use this child.

"Well believe me, I had every intention of doing that, but there was one thing that held me back. A little while before the planet was destroyed I was sent on a mission to liquidate the population of a planet called Kanassa. Now these Kanassans, they were a freaky people. They could see these visions, of the future. In fact, they were able to see their demise at the hands of me and my crew. When we finished annihilating them, we were sitting around enjoying the wreckage before going home. It turned out that we missed one, and the little bastard hit me in the head before my buddies got him saying, 'Now Bardock, I have given you this gift so that you could see the horror of your own end, just as we had too.' I had a few of these visions, and long story short, they mostly had to deal with the planet blowing up, and my son. I thought I was crazy at first, but then my crew got sent to a planet called Meat while I was still recuperating from the incident with the Kanassan. There they were attacked by our boss, Freeza's, henchmen. When I arrived, the guy in charge informed me that Freeza had become concerned that the Saiyans were becoming too powerful, and he was going to eliminate them."

"So then you realized these dreams were actually visions of the future?"

"Yeah, I was determined to stop Freeza until I passed out on the way to fight him. There I had my most important dream. I dreamt of my son fighting Freeza, and I realized that he was the one to defeat him not me."

"So this Kanassan, showed you this with the intent of you dieing in battle against Freeza, however, you came here instead to prepare your son for revenge?" Kami asked.

"Yes, that's exactly it."

"But why would this Freeza fear you Saiyans? If you were going to die against him, and your friends were eliminated by his subordinates, you don't seem to be all that strong, in comparison to Freeza of course." Kami added that last part to be sure to pacify Bardock; he had realized that if the Saiyans had sent a child to destroy his planet, they must have either been exceptionally strong, or exceptionally overestimating their strength. "Are there Saiyans stronger than you?"

"Well probably not anymore, though there were a few before the disaster. It has more to do with the Saiyan's genetic ability to get stronger after every near death experience."

"That is quite the handy trait. So even if you weren't strong enough now, in a few generations, your people could pose a threat in a few generations."

"I'm sure those were Freeza's exact thoughts, Kami. So he resolved to destroy the planet, personally. I didn't exactly see it, but from my visions it was a giant ball of energy, presumably that he himself produced."

"That is quite powerful, are you sure your son will be able to defeat him?" Kami was beginning to realize the obsession with revenge Bardock had. _It is sad enough, that he lives consumed with it; I must prevent it from consuming the life of the boy as well._

"Positive, if it weren't for these visions I wouldn't be here."

"Yes, but you cheated that destiny, by doing so you may have changed the future in ways you do not know." Kami tried to use the uncertainty of the future that Bardock had created to cause him to rethink the plan.

Bardock was confused, "What do you mean?"

Kami explained, "You were supposed to die, Bardock, by living it is unlikely that any of your dreams can be trusted now."

"Well that doesn't matter, I'll still train him."

"Isn't that a bit much to expect of him? Is that fair for your son?" Kami asked him.

"The Hell do you know? What do you know of Saiyan pride? Kakorot will take great joy in the task that has been laid out before him."

Though it was not his place to meddle in the affairs of two aliens, Kami still hated the thought of a young boy growing up to be a mere tool of vengeance, viewed by his father as only a means to an end. Kami tried to think of a way he could dissuade Bardock from this course of action. Finally, he came to the conclusion that for the time being Bardock could not be convinced otherwise. _Then I must at least postpone his training of this child. Perhaps…_ "Bardock, what of this gift you have? It interests me greatly."

"Huh, the visions, I thought you said I couldn't trust them any more?"

"Well on your own no, however, as Kami of this planet, I have some experience in the field of premonitions, I could train you to discern truth from them."

"That's an interesting proposition, Kami, but I ain't a genius. I don't think my thick head could absorb that kind of knowledge."

"Don't sell yourself short, Bardock, you obviously have some intelligence if you were a leader in you Saiyan army."

"Still, it'd just get in the way of Kakorot's training, thanks, but no thanks."

Kami was losing him fast, and in desperation made one last plea, "Think about it Bardock, this is revenge. It is a man's job not a child. Kakorot is still a baby. If you give me three years to train you to use your gift, you will still have plenty of time to raise your son."

"You have no idea what you're asking me, Kami. You want me to just forget about him?"

"I will assure that your son is well taken care of. I am god after all. Three years Bardock, it is all I ask of you."

Bardock carefully thought it over. _Did I come this far just to lose him again? But foresight could be a valuable asset in his training. Kakorot, Planthorr, Vegeta forgive me. I'll still avenge all of you, but this is just a delay._ "Very well Kami, I'll accept your training." Bardock tried to sound as confident and aloof as possible, but it was the hardest decision he had had to make.

"You won't regret this Bardock. Mr. Popo show him to his room, we'll begin training tomorrow, get some more rest Bardock, it will by no means be easy."

As Bardock went left the throne room with Mr. Popo, Karin leaned in towards Kami and whispered, "When you said he would be well taken care of you didn't mean that you were going to give him to…"

"Your pupil, no. A day may very well come when Kakorot and his lives become intertwined, but his activities are hardly child friendly. No, I do believe that the best place for the son of Bardock to go is to that man's greatest student. If you excuse me Karin, I must go find and deliver this baby to his new guardian. To think the protector of Earth, doing the duties of a stork." Kami laughed and rose from his throne, heading out to perform the task he had promised.

To my loyal, loyal readers who have been so patient: I finally got around to it, sorry it took so long. Stuff came up, but in the end I was just lazy. Hopefully I'll be updating more in the future, the exposition is more or less done, and to borrow terms from the series, the first "saga" should be beginning.

About Bardock's choice, I really wanted to put him in the story without sacrificing the more important events of the series. To me it just wouldn't be Dragon Ball without the Budokai's, King Piccolo, etc. and I think the challenge is working Bardock in while keeping those major stories relatively intact. I'd love to hear your feedback on what you think about the whole training with Kami thing, and it will probably be instrumental in me deciding how involved Bardock will be in Kakorot's life after these three years are up.

The preview this time- Mostly Bardock's training will be working through his past memories, and learning how his mind chooses to portray things so that he can read it easier when he does have visions and determine what his subconscious is saying. So it'll be mostly back story with some present action.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Bardock or any other characters in this story unless you've never heard of them, and even then, they probably existed just didn't have a huge role. Almost all characters are the intellectual property of Akira Toriyama (God bless him) and to a lesser extent Toei and Funimation (if dub names are used).

A Deadly Revelation

The hot sun beat mercilessly upon the desert landscape. Alone a withered old green man wandered through the wasteland. At first glance he thought it impossible for anything to survive out here, but he knew he wouldn't even be seeing the desert if that were true.

Kami was exploring Bardock's memories. The first three months of training had come and gone. During the first month Kami explained the process of precognitive training to Bardock, suffering through his scoffs and protests of it being far to invasive. In the second month Kami had begun the first half of the training, the mind dive.

"In order for me to instruct you, it will be necessary for me understand everything about you." Kami had told him. "I could have you explain your complete history, but I find people have the nasty tendency to lie about touchy subjects. And besides your personal experience is only half of it, every mind works differently. When I say everything about you, I mean everything."

And so here they were in the third month, Kami had pored over Bardock's memories up until this point. And so, Kami walked through the desert of the Vegeta in Bardock's memory, heading for a place he had come to know very well.

Steep cliff sides rose on either side of Kami. It was here in this valley that his destination was. At the base of the valley, crude huts and homes lay strewn haphazardly. This dirty, dusty town was what Bardock had called home. As Kami drew nearer he could make out a party of about 10 juveniles gathering around an adult Saiyan. He did not need to see the boy with wildly unkempt, yet familiar hair to know he needed to follow them.

This was how young Saiyans of Bardock's day spent their childhood, learning the art of war. A great battle was being fought and, though he was only twelve, Bardock was expected to join the fight as soon as he could.

"Boys, today we will be going out into the desert to train," their instructor told them, "You will be learning a technique that is a necessity for graduation, flight." The young Saiyans followed after him.

"Obviously a lesson our teacher didn't learn too well." One of the boys at the rear joked to his comrade, pointing at the teacher's two missing appendages. This war was of the utmost importance and no Saiyan with the ability to fight could be spared, even for instruction. Thus it fell to the crippled or disgraced to teach the next generation of warriors. Leemo, this group's instructor had lost two of his limbs fighting the Tuffles for control of the planet, and while, had he lost only his arm, he might have been considered a war hero, his other missing limb made him a laughingstock. Leemo was tailless; the highest disgrace a Saiyan could suffer. For not only did a Saiyan forgo the ability to transform with the loss of his tail, he also lost all social status and, in essence, became a pariah. At this revelation Kami pulled out of Bardock's memory.

"What's wrong, Kami?" Bardock asked, "Are we done?"

Kami returned the question. "What do you mean when you said 'forgo the ability to transform'?"

"Well whenever the moon is full and Saiyan looks at it, he can transform into a giant ape creature, provided that we have our tails fully intact." Bardock answered him though unsure why Kami had such an interest.

Kami continued his inquiry, "And these 'ape forms' what use do they have?".

"Well we get a helluva lot bigger and a helluva lot more powerful, the trick is their tough to control, amplifies pretty much everything, size, power, rage, speed."

"And you do this every full moon?"

"Everyone we see, but it's normally not an issue, they only happen every nine years on Vegeta, and even then there's sandstorms, cloud cover, and the blocking device."

"Bardock, on this planet the moon is full twelve times a year!" Kami said with more than a hint of worry in his voice.

"You serious?" Bardock replied shocked at how often full moons happened on Earth, "That could potentially be a problem, can't have me or my boy smashing up the place can we?" Bardock internally added: _Now I see why they sent Kakorot here, even with his puny power level transforming twelve times a year he'd level the place in no time, especially if this old green guy's the best they've got. _Bardock's momentary confidence in his child's ability to crush this planet with ease was forgotten when he remembered his vision._ But that doesn't happen; no otherwise my visions wouldn't have included him fighting on this planet as an adult. I figured that meant the full moons were far and few between, but something else must have happened._

Kami broke Bardock's inner monologue, "So then Bardock, what are we to do? As you said we must protect the planet, what are our options?"

"Well I'm easy enough to handle, I figure I can just stay indoors when there's a full moon."

"And your son, I doubt we can do the same for him, sooner or later he will go outdoors on a full moon not knowing what it will do."

"Well you could give him to me and I could make sure of it," Bardock quickly proposed.

"What if we cut off his tail?" Kami asked, not willing to give in.

"Well there's two things the matter with that, buddy. First, I'd never suffer that disgrace for my boy, and second, it'd make no difference, his tail'd just grow back in a few months." Bardock added the next part defiantly, "Yer only other option is destroying the moon, taking our transformation out of the picture entirely."

Kami was unfazed by Bardock's ultimatum, "There may be a day when it comes to that, but for now, I will wait and watch, your son is only a baby, and as such is unlikely to pose a major threat."

"So, ya'll do nothin'? Some god you are."

"I never said that, I will inform young Kakorot's caretaker of the situation, and hope that that will cover the problem for now. After all, I expect you'll be returning to your boy when your training is complete. The man I've picked is more than capable of taking care of a three year old." Kami finished telling Bardock his plan.

"Caretaker, I don't approve of just anyone watching my boy, you better have chosen wisely Kami."

"Don't forget, Bardock, whom you address, I am this planet's Kami, I know full well what I'm doing, you should consider yourself fortunate I include you this much in my plans, but do not question my decisions!" Bardock had a knack for trying Kami's patience._ He definitely ranks in the top three most difficult people I've had to deal with since I got the position._ And while banishing Bardock to another dimension, or trapping him in a rice cooker occasionally sounded a tempting solution to the arrogant, rude Saiyan, Kami persevered through it, seeing in him what he knew those other two lacked, the potential for change. Kami could sense that the evil in Bardock had been diminishing for some time, and still held on to the notion that someday the revenge that consumed him would abet as well._ That is when you will see your son, Bardock, when the desire for revenge is no longer a threat to you or him._

"I think, that that is enough for today Bardock, I have business in the world to attend to. If you have need of anything while I am away, Mr. Popo will be more than happy to assist you." Kami stood up and headed to the door of the room they were in.

"Hey, while yer out, could ya check on that guy you said would make me a new bodysuit and armor, these things ain't really my style." Bardock got up as well, dressed in a loose fitting blue gi and baggy beige pants. While Kami could conjure up clothes in an instant, the extra terrestrial origin of Bardock's armor had proved to difficult to make a copy of. For something as strong and resilient as Bardock's armor and bodysuit he required a specialist. Kami had assured Bardock that he knew of a scientist of unparalleled skill. If anyone could do it, Bardock had been told this man could._ And while we're on the topic of the full moon, I wonder if he can match the size changing abilities of my suit too, though I guess it doesn't matter, at the moment there's no need to transform_.

"Of course, but you must be patient, even with his significant talent, Dr. Briefs has never dealt with alien technology before."

As soon as Kami left the room he vanished into thin air teleporting off into the world to complete his errands. Usually he only left the Lookout once or twice a year, preferring to send Mr. Popo out when he needed something done; only venturing himself into the world below when the loneliness and boredom that associated itself with the position of Kami were unbearable. Now however, with Bardock's arrival, he sensed a time was coming when Kami and his world would be far more active in each other's lives, whether for good or ill he could not tell yet, but there was no doubt about it, for the first time in several hundred years, Kami would have to do more than just watch.

"I only hope I can keep up," He said arriving at a small house in the wilderness, "I'm not as young as I was last time."

Kami walked up to the door and knocked. An aged human man opened the door, carrying a baby. Despite his age, this man was the strongest being on the earth itself. The man before him was none other than Gohan, the first and best pupil of the Turtle Hermit. "Gohan, I see you remember the task I gave you upon our last meeting. I have come with a warning about the boy, if you no longer wish to keep the child afterwards I will understand, though I feel if anyone can handle this issue it will be you."

"Oh, what is it Kami? Have you come to tell me about his transformation or something else?"

"What? You already know about the full moon?" Kami was slightly shocked that Gohan had already pieced it together.

"Well, I hadn't quite figured out that it was the full moon that made him do it, but please come in and I'll tell you the whole story, I can't just have you stand in the doorway, what kind of host would I be?" Gohan stepped aside to allow Kami inside, and motioned for him to sit at his table while he went got him some tea. "You of course remember, how ill tempered the child was when you first gave him to me?" Gohan said handing Kami a cup.

"Yes, he was a rather nasty boy," Kami replied and added silently _it doesn't seem to be something they grow out of either._

"Well, I'm a bit embarrassed to say, but about two weeks after you gave him to me, I lost him. Well obviously I found him again, but for a moment there I was sure I completely screwed. You see, I was taking him along a cliff on one of my walks, but the little rascal got away from me and fell down the cliff…"

"Fell down a cliff!" Kami interjected, then realized that Kakorot must have lived because there he was in Gohan's arms.

"Yes, quite resilient though, the boy was relatively unharmed, just a couple broken bones, but it was his attitude that shocked me, from that day on he was just like any other boy."

"Amazing, that fall must have completely erased any memory of why he was here." Kami was trying to find a way to use Kakorot's memory loss to his advantage. _ Perhaps now, if Gohan raises him right, there's the chance that even if Bardock can't be reformed Kakorot will resist his attempt to make him into a killing machine, Bardock can't be heartless enough to continue his revenge if his son doesn't want to._

"Umm, sent here, what do you mean Kami? I thought he came with his father and you need me to watch him until his father finishes training with you."

Oh yes, well that's not exactly true. I didn't intend to lie to you, it was just easier the less you know, I don't even know all of it myself," Kami decided it was time Gohan knew the true purpose the boy was here, "that child was sent by his father's race to destroy our planet. As you have no doubt experienced, his transformation makes even one so young a formidable foe. And if he were to transform every full moon, he could level the planet in no time. That bump to the head may have destroyed the programming in his mind to attack the inhabitants of earth."

"This little guy was going to kill us?" Gohan couldn't believe anyone would send a baby to commit genocide, "Then why is Kakorot's father here? To make sure he does the job?"

"No, their planet was destroyed, Bardock fled to the only location he could think of, he's here to train his son for revenge on the people who destroyed his planet."

"I can understand why he would want that, but why the boy? Can't his father take revenge himself?" Gohan hated when martial arts were used for such petty purposes, a lesson he had learned from his master. The martial arts were to be used for protecting the weak and pushing yourself to you limits. "Why does he have to throw the boys life away by devoting him solely to revenge?"

"Evidently, Bardock, the boy's father, had a vision depicting young Kakorot as the one avenging his planet." Kami finished explaining why they were here and moved on to his plan, "However, I have taken Bardock under my personal supervision in an effort to bring him around, and I would like you to raise the boy in the virtues and lifestyle of the Turtle School. Perhaps if he comes to know the values of you and your master, Kakorot will resist becoming a tool for his father's revenge."

"Very well Kami, at least this way the choice is his," Gohan agreed, though uncomfortable that either way the child was to be a pawn in someone's plan. _And I wonder, Kakorot, who will you choose when the time comes? _He looked down at the child in his arms as Kami thanked Gohan and got up to leave. _Kami's freedom or your father? What an unfair choice to ask of a child._

"I guess no more going out at night for you in any case," Gohan broke the silence, distancing himself from the reality of the situation. "Well, come on let's get you back to your crib while I go out and get us some dinner. Hunting's no place for a baby after all."

Attention Readers: Here's another update. I'll tell you, dial up internet and no cable are a sure remedy for writer's block. I just got back from vacation, and I spend a few days working on this. This actually took a different turn from what I originally had planned, when I realized that Kami would want to know why tails were so important. The Saiyan instructor Leemo will become more important of a character in the flashbacks, and I'm working on his backstory at the moment, so sorry if you felt I was just throwing names around for no reason.

Sage of Storms, about your age question, I think I said that Vegeta was 7 in an earlier chapter, but for convenience I'll try to break down the age range of most of the characters. I try to use the dates of the official timeline, but I guessed on Vegeta's birth year, and since it's just fanfiction, I may as well stick with it.

As of this moment my characters are:

Bardock: late 20s, about 27 (his crew and other contemporary Saiyans are of similar age)

Vegeta: 7

Kakorot: 6 months

Raditz: 3-6 years (I always envisioned him as younger than Vegeta)

King Vegeta: Mid 40s

Nappa: Early 30s

Kami: 500s

Roshi: 300s

Grandpa Gohan: 80s

Also Goku will always be referred to as Kakorot in this fic. Since Bardock survived and told Kami his son's name, Kami in turn told Gohan when he gave the child to him.


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